Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

Bad memory?

Hi,
Does anyone know how to check my Visor Deluxe to see if there is some corrupted bit of memory? My Visor no longer appears to be able to run large applications (Vindigo, Avantgo, EyeModule). These applications start, then die. I can hit the home button, and see the main screen again. All other programs appear to run fine.
Maybe something else got corrupted? Also, Vindigo had a major update recently, and I almost suspect it may have something to do with it. That, or the Visor is just getting old.
Help!
Thanks,
Mark

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

It might be a memory fragmentation problem. I use PalmInfo by Uwe Klimmek as a general system monitor and memory defragger.
(It's not available at VersionTracker's palm site that I can find, but I expect you'll find it at one of the other download sites. I believe I have Klimmek's website bookmarked at home, and will update over the weekend.)

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 216

Here is the website for PalmInfo .

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Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

I installed Palminfo, and it showed I had 6985kB of free memory, with 5% fragmentation. I ran the defrag option a few times, and got the fragmentation down to 0%.

Sadly, the problem is still there. The easiest way to see it is to run Avantgo, or Vindigo, or to plug in the EyeModule. They start, then the screen turns blank. If I hit 'home', I get the normal screen listing the programs.

I also tried a hard-reboot, with no luck.

Could the new Vindigo update somehow be responsible? I tried uninstalling it, and Avantgo, and all the related files, but the problem still exists.

Time to get a new Visor? I've been thinking about the Prism...

Thanks for the help,
Mark

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 216

I had never used PalmInfo until seeing this thread. After defragmenting my memory, when I tap to close the program, my platinum crashes. I turned off all hacks and x-master and the same thing happens. Does this happen with anyone else? It is not a big deal as it appears to still work. I just have to reset.

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

Hard to believe

Bad memory is extremely unlikely; its nearly impossible to effect a hardware change (damage) to your Visor, especially with the programs you are using (all tried and true).

No offense...your new here which is why I ask the question...but are you sure you did a hard reset and not simply a soft one? After a hard reset there should be no remnents of anything on your Visor.

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

Hi,
Yes, I'm sure I did a hard reset. All of my installed programs went away. I then tried inserting the Eyemodule, which installed its program. When I clicked on it, it hung, just as it did before. The same thing happened when I reinstalled Vindigo, Avantgo, etc. - all the large programs. When I run the smaller programs I do not have any problems.

I agree this is very strange. It really seems like something is corrupted or broken. Perhaps the display? When I have the problems with the blank screens I can click on the "home", and the main screen will appear.

I just tried another experiment. I did another hard reset. Again, all of my programs went away. I inserted the eyemodule. It installed. I hit home,and saw the listing of the programs. I clicked on the EyeModule, and got a blank screen. I then clicked on the lower part, where the menu options would be, and was able to run other parts of the EyeModule, just not the main interactive viewport part. Hmmm.

I then beamed Vindigo to it from my new Visor Prism (I used this problem as an excuse ;-> ). It installed fine. When I tried to run it, I got a blank screen. I then tried tapping it where a button should be, based on viewing my new Prism at the same time. Interestingly enough, when I hit the places where the buttons should be, my screen suddenly appeared! When I let go, it disappeared. I tried the same thing with the EyeModule, and also got the screen to appear. The screens will only appear if I press down on the screen HARD. Adjusting the contrast does not seem to help. I get an either blank display, or a normal one, and the only difference is how hard I press down on the screen.

Could this problem be related to some loose wiring? If so, why would large programs be impacted? I thought perhaps it may be related to color, since the large programs mostly have color, but the Eyemodule 1 has a black and white display, at least with the original software.

Any ideas?

Thanks for the help,
Mark

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

Bad Springboard

What happens with other programs if you don't install the Eyemodule? Could you have a bad module maybe? I'd sure want to know before I popped it into the new Prism!

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

Hi,

The other programs that I install work fine (Metro, DateBook+,Adventure, etc.). Only the large programs seem to have problems (Avantgo, EyeModule, Vindigo). And even the programs that don't work do in fact work, they just don't display. Hmmm.

The Eyemodule works fine on my new Visor Prism (even displays in color ;-> ).

Any ideas? Why would large programs make a display fail? They do tend to have colors, and graphics, but these programs worked fine until 1 week ago. The only thing that really happened during that time was the new version of Vindigo installed itself (J'accuse!). Uninstalling it and Avantgo does not seem to impact the problem.

At this point I've migrated to the new Prism, but for all the Visor Deluxe users out there, I'd like to try to figure out what happened.

I can borrow a friend's Visor Deluxe. Should I try swapping something, to see if this is hardware related? Would this be risky (I'm a software guy).

Thanks for the suggestions so far,
Mark